First test of expanded parking meter hours launches in the Marina

The first batch of parking meters to have extended hours under San Francisco’s SFpark experiment will start today in the Marina District. Drivers now will be able to plug the meter for up to four hours without risking a $55 parking ticket if they linger too long over a cup of coffee or decide to grab a bite and see a movie.

The Municipal Transportation Agency will roll out the extended meter hours in other SFpark areas over the next couple of weeks. In some neighborhoods, there will be no time restrictions.

In addition to the Marina, SFpark will launch in the Civic Center, Hayes Valley, Financial District, SoMa, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Mission and the Fillmore. In all other neighborhoods, the regular time limits, which generally range from 30 minutes to two hours, will remain the same.

Here’s what drivers should look for: The new time limits will affect all regular meters with gray tops in the pilot areas. The current time restrictions will remain the same for meters with yellow and red tops in commercial loading zones, and with green tops in specially-designated spaces intended for quick turnover. The electronic meters also will display the time limits, if there are any.

Under the federally funded trial, city officials want to see whether micromanaging parking at curbside meters and in city-owned garages will alter the behavior of drivers.

The idea is to use a dynamic pricing model — raise parking fees when demand is high and lower them when spaces are plentiful — to make at least one space per block available at any given time. If the theory works, officials hope drivers will spend less time circling the block for parking, resulting in less congestion and air pollution.

Motorists may end up paying more for parking, up to $6 an hour (or as much as $18 during special events). But the program is designed to be handier by allowing people to park longer and to pay by credit card and eventually cell phones. Information on parking availability also will be available online.

”Expanding the time limits will make driving more convenient, while demand-responsive pricing will improve parking availability,” said San Francisco’s parking chief, Nathaniel Ford.